House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2000, with 51% of the vote.
Member for LaSalle--Émard October 2nd, 2003
Mr. Speaker, when there is a new Prime Minister, he will come to this House and answer questions. For now, there is another government and that is how it will be until the transition takes place.
If the member has questions for this government, he can ask away. Apparently everything is going so well that he has no questions.
Member for LaSalle--Émard October 2nd, 2003
Mr. Speaker, this is a little silly. There is only one government at a time.
The member for LaSalle--Émard may well become the Prime Minister at some point after November 15 at which time he will appear before the Governor General and be sworn in as Prime Minister with a government.
He will appear before the House of Commons where he will need to have the confidence of the House. I have little doubt that will be achieved. He will be available as will members of his government to answer questions in the appropriate fashion.
In the meantime, does he have any questions to ask this government?
Member for LaSalle--Émard October 2nd, 2003
Mr. Speaker, I think all of the House is preoccupied today with the death and injury of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. That will undoubtedly be on our minds for the rest of today.
The government is committed to first of all, tending properly to the affairs of state and ensuring that Canadians receive the government that they deserve and expect; and second, ensuring that the transition to a new government is done smoothly and appropriately.
Taxation September 30th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, I will certainly make note of the hon. member's doubts about whether harmonization would be a good idea.
In the meantime I see that she has joined the former leader of the Ontario Conservative Party, Mike Harris, in presuming that Mr. McGuinty will win the election this week, which is right.
Taxation September 30th, 2003
No, Mr. Speaker. I know the Alliance has been doing its best to help the re-election of Premier Eves in Ontario. I can say that its success is just about equivalent to its success in marrying up with its friends down the aisle.
Voyageur Colonial Pension Fund September 30th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, accuracy of allegations: zero. Responsibility of accusations: zero.
I am getting a little fed up with the fact that these people come into the House and cast aspersions against an honourable person, suggesting that in no circumstance can somebody with broad business interests ever hold an important office in Canada because somebody over there is going to come in here and make unfounded allegations that are completely scurrilous. They are irresponsible.
Voyageur Colonial Pension Fund September 30th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member knows first of all that OSFI operates on an independent basis. Second, the review of the pension plan is based on the agreements that were in place between, in one case, the union and the company and in the other case, on behalf of the non-unionized employees and the company. OSFI's responsibility to ensure that the terms of the contracts were fully respected was one that they undertook and which they carried out with the independence upon which the office is based.
Taxation September 30th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, we have been through this discussion with respect to the treatment of business income earned through active business entities based in other jurisdictions in the past. In a number of cases we have tax treaties with countries like Ireland and Barbados. In those cases, in order to make changes, obviously a renegotiation of those treaties would be required. No, we do not unilaterally abrogate them and they do serve some important other purposes.
Canada Elections Act September 29th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, experiments with how we function in our democracy are always of interest and actively debated.
One of the advantages of a federation is that very often new ideas can be tried out at the provincial level. I wonder whether the hon. member has ever thought of proposing to the NDP government in Saskatchewan that it try proportional representation in that province and we will see how it works before we try it at the federal level.
Taxation September 29th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, not only is the question questionably out of order but clearly no minister will enter into a discussion of the tax treatment of any individual or individual company on the floor of the House of Commons.